Content transmitting apparatus for transmitting content with copy control information, content identification information and content status information

ABSTRACT

A content transmitting apparatus and the like which execute copy control of content more securely than conventional, and can count copy number correctly according to the situation, even in the case where content transfer is interrupted are provided. The content reproducing apparatus  10  for transmitting content that is digital copyrighted work including a plurality of content blocks comprises: the content reproducing unit  11  which reads out content and the like from the DVD  30 ; the control unit  12  which repeats, for each of the plurality of content blocks, transmitting in parallel with the content blocks, the copy control information indicating copy permission of the content, the content identification information identifying content, and the content status information indicating status of the content blocks in the overall content; the data building unit  15 ; the transmission unit  16 ; and the like.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.10/585,947, filed on Jul. 11, 2006, which is the U.S. National Phaseunder 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Application No. PCT/JP2005/003818,filed on Feb. 28, 2005, which in turn claims the benefit of JapaneseApplication No. 2004-096714, filed on Mar. 29, 2004, the disclosures ofwhich applications are incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a content transmitting apparatus and acontent receiving apparatus, in particular, to a content transmittingapparatus and a content receiving apparatus used for copying digitalcopyrighted work.

BACKGROUND ART

With the appearance of mass recording media such as a DVD, byreproducing, using a reproducing apparatus such as a DVD player, arecording medium in which content such as video and music are recorded,it has become possible to enjoy video and music for a long period oftime. However, from the standpoint of copyright protection, it isnecessary to restrict actions to copy the above mentioned content, asdigital data, into other recording media such as a CD-R.

Conventionally, as a technique regarding the above mentioned copycontrol of content, various methods have been suggested (for example,“Record Reproducing System” as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Openpublication No. 2001-125833, and the like).

In the above mentioned conventional record reproducing system, whencontent is recorded in a recording medium, identification informationwhich identifies whether the content is a copied record from a massrecording medium or a moving record is also recorded. When reproducing,according to the identification information, copy permission is judged,and copying the content and the like are properly permitted orprohibited. Also, based on copy permission number, content copying ismonitored, and copying up to a certain number of times is permitted.

However, in the above mentioned conventional record reproducing system,when copying content, the method for reading out, only once, and judgingthe identification information indicating whether the content is acopied record or the moving record is used. Thus, it cannot be said thata sufficiently secure copy control is executed. For example, when theidentification information is read out from the recording medium, in thecase where the identification information is captured on thetransmission path, and replaced with other information, the copy controlbecomes invalid. In other words, there is a problem that if theimportant copy control information indicating copy limitation ismodified once, copying becomes possible with the unit of content orrecording medium.

Moreover, in the above mentioned conventional record reproducing system,the copy control is executed based on the copy permission number.However, there is a problem that since the case where the contenttransmission is interrupted and the like are not taken into account, thecopy number control is incomplete. For example, in the case where thecopy number is counted in the head part of copying, one copy is countedeven if a complete copy is not finished. Thus, the user suffers thedisadvantage. On the contrary, in the case where the copy number iscounted in the end of copying, even if the copy is almost completed, onecopy is not counted. Thus, unauthorized copying can be repeated.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The object of the present invention, in view of the above mentionedproblems, is to provide a content transmitting apparatus, a contentreceiving apparatus and the like which can execute copy control ofcontent more securely than conventional, and can count the copy numbercorrectly according to the situation, even in the case where the contenttransfer is interrupted.

In order to achieve the above mentioned object, the content transmittingapparatus according to the present invention is a content transmittingapparatus which transmits content that is digital copyrighted workincluding a plurality of content blocks, the apparatus comprising asynchronous transmitting unit operable to repeat transmitting, for eachof the plurality of content blocks, in parallel with said each of thecontent blocks, copy control information indicating copy permission ofthe content, content identification information identifying the content,and content status information indicating status of said each of thecontent blocks in the overall content. Thus, in the copy destinationapparatus, for each of the plurality of content blocks, copy permissionjudgment is repeated based on the copy control information. And, themore secure copy control than conventional can be executed. Moreover, inthe case where identification of the content identification informationacross one content can be maintained, and it is confirmed that each unitof the content has been transferred, one copy is counted. Thereby, evenin the case where the content transfer is interrupted, the copy numberis counted correctly, according to the situation.

Here, the content transmitting apparatus may further comprise a validityflag generating unit operable to generate a validity flag indicatingwhether or not the content identification information read out from therecording medium is valid data, wherein said synchronous transmittingunit transmits the content identification information accompanied by thevalidity flag. For example, the validity flag generating unit may judgewhether or not read-out mode of the recording medium used by saidread-out unit is special reproduction, and in the case where theread-out mode is the special reproduction, said validity flag generatingunit may generate a validity flag indicating that the contentidentification information is invalid. The content identificationinformation may include a data sequence made of a plurality of data, andsaid validity flag generating unit may judge whether or not the datasequence made of a plurality of data has been completely read out fromthe recording medium by said read-out unit, and may generate thevalidity flag based on the result. Thus, in the copy destinationapparatus, only by checking the validity flag, it can be immediatelyknown that the content identification information has not beencompletely read out, that is, that since a complete content cannot betransferred, copying needs not be prohibited.

Also, in order to achieve the above mentioned object, the contentreceiving apparatus according to the present invention is the contentreceiving apparatus which receives, from outside, content that isdigital copyrighted work including a plurality of content blocks, andrecords the content into a recording medium, wherein the plurality ofcontent blocks are sequentially transmitted, each of said content blocksbeing accompanied by the copy control information indicating copypermission of the content, the content identification informationidentifying the content, and the content status information indicatingstatus of said each of the content blocks in the overall content, andthe content receiving apparatus comprises: a receiving unit operable toreceive said each of the content blocks, the copy control information,the content identification information and the content statusinformation; and a recording unit operable to record the contentindicated by the content identification information into the recordingmedium based on the content status information within a range that doesnot exceed the copy permission number, in the case where the copycontrol information indicates that the copy permission number islimited. Thus, the copy permission judgment is repeated, for said eachof the plurality of content blocks, based on the copy controlinformation. And, a more secure copy control than conventional can beexecuted. Moreover, in the case where identification of the contentidentification information across one content can be maintained, and itis confirmed that each unit of the content has been transferred, onecopy is counted. Thereby, even in the case where the content transfer isinterrupted, the copy number is counted correctly, according to thesituation.

The present invention can not only be realized as the above mentionedcontent transmitting apparatus and content receiving apparatus, but alsoas a content transmitting method, a content receiving method, a programcausing a computer to execute the methods, and a recording medium wherea control block including the copy control information, contentidentification information and content status information is recorded.Needless to say, the program can be distributed via a transmissionmedium such as Internet and a recording medium such as a DVD.

According to the present invention, in the content transmission, thecopy permission judgment is repeated, for said each of the plurality ofcontent blocks, based on the copy control information. And, a moresecure copy control than conventional can be executed. Moreover, in onecontent transmission, in the case where identification of the contentidentification information across one content can be maintained, and itis confirmed that each unit of the content has been transferred, onecopy is counted. Thereby, even in the case where the content transfer isinterrupted, the copy number is counted correctly, according to thesituation.

Consequently, according to the present invention, copy right in copyingdigital copyrighted work can be certainly protected, and an adequatecopy number control can be realized. Therefore, the practical value ofthe present invention is extremely high in present day when informationdigitalization and capacity increase of recording media are beingdeveloped.

FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT TECHNICAL BACKGROUND TO THIS APPLICATION

The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-096714 filed onMar. 29, 2004 including specification, drawings and claims isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention willbecome apparent from the following description thereof taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings that illustrate a specificembodiment of the invention. In the Drawings:

FIG. 1 is an external view of the content reproducing apparatus and thecontent recording apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the configurations of thecontent reproducing apparatus and the content recording apparatus asshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of a control packet for musiccontent recorded in a DVD;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operational order of the contentreproducing apparatus, focusing on the types of information read outfrom a DVD;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the temporal flow of information transferredfrom the content reproducing apparatus to the content recordingapparatus;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the operational order of the contentreproducing apparatus, focusing on the content ID transfer;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the operational order of the contentrecording apparatus; and

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are diagrams showing the structures of other controlpackets for music content recorded in a DVD.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the embodiment according to the present invention will beexplained in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view of the content reproducing apparatus 10 as anexample of the content transmitting apparatus according to the presentinvention and the content recording apparatus 20 as an example of thecontent receiving apparatus according to the present invention. Here,the appearance in which the content reproducing apparatus 10 and thecontent recording apparatus 20 are connected by a High-DefinitionMultimedia Interface (HDMI) cable 31 is shown.

The content reproducing apparatus 10 is a DVD player and the like. Here,the content reproducing apparatus 10 reproduces the music contentrecorded into the DVD 30, and digitally outputs the music content to thecontent recording apparatus 20 via the HDMI cable 31.

The content recording apparatus 20 is a CD recorder and player includinga recording and reproducing function, and the like. And, the contentrecording apparatus 20 (i) records, into a CD 32, the music contenttransmitted via the HDMI cable 31, (ii) reproduces the recorded musiccontent, and (iii) audio outputs the music content to the head phone 33.

Hereinafter, according to the present embodiment, an example of the casewhere the music content is copied from the DVD 30 attached to thecontent reproducing apparatus 10 to the CD 32 attached to the contentrecording apparatus 20 will be explained.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the configurations of thecontent reproducing apparatus 10 and the content recording apparatus 20as shown in FIG. 1. Although the content recording apparatus 20 includesfunctions of recording and reproducing content, only the configurationelements involved in recording are shown in FIG. 2.

The content reproducing apparatus 10 is a DVD player and the like whichinclude a function of digitally outputting the content read out from aDVD 30, via the HDMI cable 31. And, the content reproducing apparatus 10includes: a content reproducing unit 11, a control unit 12, an inputunit 13, a video audio output unit 14, a data building unit 15 and atransmission unit 16. In the DVD 30, for example, music content isrecorded according to the DVD-Audio standard, and each song is formed bygroups of fixed-length packet data (that is, content block).

The content reproducing unit 11 is an optical head, a demodulatorcircuit, a decoding processing unit and the like which read out thecontent such as music recorded in the attached DVD 30. The informationread out by the content reproducing unit 11 is not only the content, butalso information accompanying the content such as the control packet asshown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of a control packet for musiccontent recorded in the DVD 30. The above mentioned control packet is,for example, control information of 24 bytes placed in the header unitand the like of the plurality of packets included in the content. Themeaning of each control information is as follows.

Packet type: indicates the type of the control packet;

ACP Type and ACP Type version: indicate the employed copy rightprotection format;

International Standard Recording Code (ISRC)_CONST (2 bits): indicatesthat the following 16-byte PB1-PB16 are respectively one of “firsthalf”, “end half”, “first half, but 16 bytes of the end half are allzero” or “null” of the content ID (32-byte content identificationinformation);

res: indicates the area (reservation) reserved for future use;

ISRC Status (Content status information): indicates the position (one of“head part”, “central part” and “end part”), in the overall content (forexample, one song), of the content data corresponding to the controlpacket, said ISRC Status set in advance so that, for example, in thecase of a song with 5-minute performance time, (i) the content statusinformation corresponding to the content data of the head to 10 secondsindicates “head part”, (ii) the content status information correspondingto the content data of the following 4 minutes and 40 seconds indicates“central part”, and (iii) the content status information correspondingto the content data of the last 10 seconds indicates “end part”;

Universal Product Code (UPC)_European Article Number (EAN)_ISRC00/16-15/31: indicate the first-half 16 bytes (or the end-half 16 bytes)included in the content ID;

Copy_permission (Copy permission information): indicates one of“unlimited”, “copy permitted only for one generation”, “prohibited” andthe like;

Copy number (Copy permission number): indicates the content copy numberpermitted only in the case where the Copy_permission indicates “copypermitted only for one generation”;

Quality: indicates the quality (the upper limit of the sampling speed,and the like) permitted when copying; and

Transaction: indicates the transaction permitted when copying.

The 24th byte PB0 is called “Copy Control Information (CCI)”.

The control unit 12 is a CPU, a control circuit and the like whichexecute control, based on the user's direction from the input unit 13and the like, by means of (i) Digital-to-Analog (D/A) converting thecontent read out by the content reproducing unit 11 into a video audiosignal, and outputting the video audio signal to the audio videooutputting unit 14, and (ii) outputting the above mentioned content, asdigital data, to the outside via the data building unit 15 and thetransmission unit 16.

The input unit 13 is a button, a key and the like for obtaining adirection from the user.

The audio video outputting unit 14 is a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), aspeaker and the like.

The data building unit 15, in digitally outputting content, based on thedirection and data from the control unit 12, so as to synchronoustransmit the content, copy control information, content ID and contentstatus information, multiplexes the above mentioned information, andoutputs such information to the transmission unit 16. Thus, when acontent packet is digitally outputted, the copy control information,content ID and content status information corresponding to the packetare simultaneously outputted (time-division multiplexed). Also, in orderto synchronize the above mentioned content, copy control information,content ID and content status information, the data building unit 15includes the function of delaying the content to transmit, if necessary.

The transmission unit 16 is a communication interface which outputs, viathe HDMI cable 31, data such as the content received from the databuilding unit 15.

The content recording apparatus 20 is a music CD recorder and player,and the like which include the function of recording, via the HDMI cable31, the content transmitted from the content reproducing apparatus 10into the CD 32 under the copy control. And, the content recordingapparatus 20 includes: a reception unit 21, a data extraction unit 22, acontrol unit 23, an input unit 24, a non-volatile memory 25 and acontent recording unit 26.

The reception unit 21 is a communication interface which receives datasuch as the content transmitted via the HDMI cable 31, and outputs thedata to the data extraction unit 22.

The data extraction unit 22 (i) demultiplexes the data transmitted fromthe reception unit 21, (ii) restores the demultiplexed data as thecontent, copy control information, content ID and content statusinformation, and (iii) outputs the above mentioned information to thecontrol unit 23.

The control unit 23 is a CPU, a control circuit and the like whichexecute control such as, based on the user's direction from the inputunit 24 and the like, (i) transmitting, to the content recording unit26, the digitally inputted content via the reception unit 21 and dataextraction unit 22, under the copy control of the copy judging unit 23a, and (ii) causing the CD 32 to record the above mentioned content.

The copy judging unit 23 a is a processing unit which judges copypermission of content based on the content, the content controlinformation, and the like transmitted from the reception unit 21 anddata extraction unit 22. For example, the copy judging unit 23 a judgesthat copy is permitted (1) in the case where it is judged that as thelater mentioned special reproduction, a complete content has not beentransmitted, (2) in the case where the copy permission informationincluded in the copy control information indicates “unlimited”, and (3)in the case where the copy permission information indicates “copypermitted only for one generation”, and the cumulative copy number ofthe content by the content recording apparatus 20 has not reached thecopy permission number included in the copy control information.

The input unit 24 is a button, a key, and the like for obtaining theuser's direction.

The non-volatile memory 25 is a rewritable and non-volatile memory whichmemorizes the copy number table 25 a and the like. The copy number table25 a is a data table for recording, per content ID, the number of times(cumulative copy number) that the content recording apparatus 20 madecopies in the past. And, the non-volatile memory 25 is updated andreferred to by the control unit 23.

The content recording unit 26 is a modulation circuit, an optical headand the like which record, into the CD 32, the content and the liketransmitted from the control unit 23.

Next, the copy operations of the content reproducing apparatus 10 andthe content recording apparatus 20, according to the present embodiment,configured as above, will be explained.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operational order of the contentreproducing apparatus 10, focusing on the type of information read outfrom the DVD 30.

First, when the content to be copied is specified by the user'sdirection via the input unit 13 and the like, the control unit 12 readsout the head packet of the content via the content reproducing unit 11,and extracts the included copy control information (S10).

Then, the control unit 12 judges, based on the copy permissioninformation included in the copy control information, whether copy ispermitted or not, that is, whether the copy permission informationindicates “unlimited” or “copy permitted only for one generation” (S11).As a result, in the case where copy is not permitted (No in S11), thecopy process of the content is ended.

On the other hand, in the case where copy is permitted (Yes in S11),next, the control unit 12 judges whether or not the copy to be executedis the copy using the copy permission number information, that is,whether or not the copy permission information indicates “copy permittedonly for one generation” (S12).

As a result, in the case where the copy to be executed is the copy usingthe copy permission number information (Yes in S12), the control unit12, from the DVD 30, reads out the corresponding content, copy controlinformation, content ID and content status information, and controls thecontent reproducing unit 11, the data building unit 15 and the like soas to cause the content recording apparatus 20 to synchronous transferthe above mentioned information (S13). On the other hand, in the casewhere the copy to be executed is not the copy using the copy permissionnumber information (No in S12), the control unit 12, from the DVD 30,reads out the corresponding content, copy control information andcontent ID, and controls the content reproducing unit 11, the databuilding unit 15 and the like so as to cause the content recordingapparatus 20 to synchronous transfer the above mentioned information(S14).

The above mentioned processes (S10-S14) are repeated for all of thepackets included in one specified content.

In the above mentioned step S13, in the case where the copy using thecopy permission number information is executed, the content statusinformation is transmitted so that, as described later, the contentrecording apparatus 20 can confirm, based on the content statusinformation, that one content (the amount of one copy) has beencompletely transferred.

Also, in parallel with the content transfer, the copy controlinformation and content ID are repeatedly transmitted so that (i) thecontent recording apparatus 20 repeats judging the copy permission ofthe content per packet, and the security of the copy control can beenhanced, and (ii) by confirming that the content ID is identical in allof the packets included in one content, it can be found that one contenthas been certainly transferred.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the temporal flow of the informationtransferred from the content reproducing apparatus 10 to the contentrecording apparatus 20 in the content copy executed by the abovementioned repeated processes. Here, the case where the copy permissionnumber information is necessary, that is, the condition in which thecontent status information is transferred along with the content and thelike is shown.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the case where the content (song “Track A”,“Track B” and the like) is copied and transferred, the copy controlinformation, content ID and content status information corresponding tothe packet of the transferred content are synchronous transferred.Focusing on the content status information, (i) when the head part ofthe song is transferred, the content status information indicating “headpart” is transferred (here, transferred for two or more cycles), (ii)when the central part is transferred, the content status informationindicating “central part” is transferred, and (iii) when the end part istransferred, the content status information indicating “end part” istransferred (here, transferred for two or more cycles). By confirmingthe above mentioned transfer of the content status information, thecontent recording apparatus 20 of the copy destination can confirm thatone content (the amount of one copy) has been completely transferred.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the operational order of the contentreproducing apparatus 10, focused on the content ID transfer. Here, theoperational order of the content reproducing apparatus 10 whichgenerates a flag indicating the validity of the content ID outputtedwhen copying the content is shown.

First, the control unit 12, based on the user's direction and the likevia the input unit 13, judges whether the content reproducing mode isspecial reproduction or regular reproduction (S20). Here, the specialreproduction is, cue reproduction (fast forward direction), reviewreproduction (fast backward direction), slow (slow forward direction)and the like. And, the special reproduction is a reproduction mode whichhas no guarantee that the content ID of consecutive 16 bytes in thecontrol packet is completely read out.

In the case where the reproduction mode is judged as the regularreproduction (No in S20), the control unit 12 judges whether the 16-bytecontent ID in the control packet has been completely read out by thecontent reproducing unit 11 (S21). Here, in the above mentionedjudgment, for example, whether “ISRC_number” (the number indicatingwhich of the 32 bytes in the content IDs the current byte is) recordedin each of the 16 bytes included in the content ID as shown in FIG. 3 isconsecutive or not is judged.

As a result, in the case where the content ID has been completely readout (Yes in S21), the validity flag indicating the fact (“valid”) isgenerated (S22), and outputted, along with the read-out content ID, tothe content recording apparatus 20 (S25).

On the other hand, in the case where the reproduction mode is specialreproduction (Yes in S20), and in the case where the content ID has notbeen completely read out (No in S21), (i) the validity flag indicatingthe fact (“invalid”) is generated (S23), (ii) null (for example, filledwith zero or null) content ID is generated (S24), and (iii) the validityflag is outputted with the content ID to the content recording apparatus20 (S25).

As described above, when copying content, by outputting the validityflag indicating not only the content ID, but also the validity of thecontent ID to the content recording apparatus 20 of the copydestination, the content recording apparatus 20 can be immediatelyinformed only by the value of the validity flag that the copy control isunnecessary. In other words, the content recording apparatus 20 can beimmediately informed, for example, that the content has not beencompletely read out due to a special reproduction and the like, and thecopy is permitted.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the operational order of the contentrecording apparatus 20.

When copy starts and content is transmitted from the content reproducingapparatus 10 to the content recording apparatus 20, the copy judgingunit 23 a of the content recording apparatus 20 judges whether or notthe transmitted content copy is the permitted one (S30). For example,the copy judging unit 23 a of the content recording apparatus 20 judgesthat the copy is permitted in the case where (1) the copy permissioninformation included in the synchronous transmitted copy controlinformation indicates “no limit” or “copy permitted only for onegeneration”, or (2) the validity flag of the content ID indicates“invalid”.

As a result, in the case where the copy is not permitted (No in S30),the operation ends without writing the content into CD32.

On the other hand, in the case where the copy is permitted (Yes in S30),the copy judging unit 23 a judges whether or not the copy to be made isthe copy using the copy permission number information, that is, the copypermission information indicates “copy permitted only for onegeneration” (S31).

As a result, in the case where the copy to be made is not the copy usingthe copy permission number information (No in S31), the copy judgingunit 23 a judges that the copy to be made is the copy whose copy numberneeds not be managed, and executes control so that the received contentshould be written into the CD32 via the content recording unit 26 (S32).

On the other hand, in the case where the copy to be made is the copyusing the copy permission number information (Yes in S31), the copyjudging unit 23 a reads out the copy number information corresponding tothe content ID received in synchronization with the content from thecopy number table 25 a stored in the non-volatile memory 25 (S33).

Then, by comparing the cumulative copy number indicated by the read-outcopy number information and the copy permission number included in thecopy control information, whether or not the cumulative copy numberreaches the copy permission number is judged (S34).

As a result, in the case where the cumulative copy number reaches thecopy permission number (No in S34), the copy judging unit 23 a ends theoperation without writing the content into the CD32.

On the other hand, in the case where the cumulative copy number does notreach the copy permission number (Yes in S34), the copy judging unit 23a executes control so that the content is written into the CD32 via thecontent recording unit 26 (S35).

Then, the copy judging unit 23 a repeats the above mentioned processeson all of the packets included in one content, and monitors theidentification of the content ID and the transfer of the content statusinformation included in the copy control information. Thus, the copyjudging unit 23 a judges whether or not (1) the content ID is alwaysidentical in copying one content, and (2) the content status informationhas been transferred from “head part” to “central part”, then to “endpart” (S36).

As a result, only in the case where the content ID is always identical,and the content status information has been transferred from “head part”to “central part”, then to “end part” (Yes in S36), the copy judgingunit 23 a judges that one content (for example, one song) has beencompletely copied, and increments the copy number, by one, correspondingto the content ID in the copy number table 25 a and updates the copynumber (S37).

The above mentioned processes (S30-S37) are repeated for all of thepackets included in one content. However, incrementing the copy number(S37) is executed only once for one copy of one content.

As described above, the content recording apparatus 20 executes copycontrol based on the copy control information for all of the packetsincluded in one content. And, the copy whose copy permission number ispredetermined is counted as one copy in the case where theidentification of the content ID is held, and all of the “head part”,“central part”, and “end part” have been transferred.

Thus, in one content transfer, the copy control information isrepeatedly transferred in synchronization with the content packet, andchecked. Thereby, the guard function against the unauthorized copy dueto the capture and replacement of the copy control information isenhanced. And, only in the case where one content has been completelytransferred, one copy is counted. Therefore, even in the case where thecontent transfer is interrupted, correct copy number control accordingto the situation can be executed.

As described above, the content reproducing apparatus and contentrecording apparatus according to the present invention are explainedbased on the embodiment. However, the present invention is not limitedto such embodiment as described above.

For example, according to the present embodiment, the case where themusic content is copied is explained. However, the present invention isnot limited to the music content, and can be applied to video content,as well.

Also, the interface which connects the content reproducing apparatus 10and the content recording apparatus 20 is not limited to the HDMI cable31, and can be, for example, Institute of Electronic and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) 1394 and the like.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, the content statusinformation, regardless of the content, is transmitted insynchronization with the corresponding content (packet). However, thecontent status information indicating at least the “head part” and the“end part” can be transmitted in synchronization with the correspondingcontent. Even in the case where the content status informationindicating the “central part” is transmitted temporally misaligned withthe corresponding content, as long as the “head part” and the “end part”are certainly confirmed, it can be confirmed that one content has beencompletely transferred.

Moreover, according to the present embodiment, in the copy number table25 a, pairs of the content ID and the cumulative copy number arerecorded. However, the present invention is not limited to suchrecording method as described above, and for example, only thecumulative copy number can be recorded in the copy number table byassociating the copy ID with the storage location.

Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, as an example of thecontrol packet recorded in the DVD 30, the packet of the type “04” asshown in FIG. 3 is described. However, the present invention is notlimited to the control packet of the above mentioned type, and forexample, can be the control packet of the type “05” as shown in FIG. 8Aand the control packet of the type “06” as shown in FIG. 8B.

In the second byte HB1 of the control packet of the type “05” as shownin FIG. 8A, “ISRC_CONST” is a flag indicating whether the “ISRC” issplit transmitted by two packets or the “ISRC” is transmitted by onepacket by compressing “0” indicating “reserved”. In other words, whenthe “ISRC_CONST” is “1”, it indicates that the “ISRC” of 32 bytes isformed by the two packets which are the current packet and the followingpacket of the type “06” (as shown in FIG. 8B). On the other hand, whenthe “ISRC_CONST” is “0”, it indicates that “UPC_EAN_ISRC 16-31” is nottransmitted (all of them have the default value “0”). Also, “ISRC_Valid”indicates whether or not “ISRC_Status” included in the packet and thedata placed in “UPC_EAN_ISRC_xx” are valid, and is equivalent with thevalidity flag of the present embodiment.

Although only an exemplary embodiment of this invention has beendescribed in detail above, those skilled in the art will readilyappreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplaryembodiment without materially departing from the novel teachings andadvantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications areintended to be included within the scope of this invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention can be utilized as the content transmittingapparatus and content receiving apparatus used for copying digitalcontents such as video and music, for example, as the recorder andplayer for the recording media such as a DVD, a CD and an IC memory, inparticular, as the content reproducing and recording apparatus and thelike which execute copying while protecting the copy right of thedigital copyrighted work.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A content transmitting apparatus which transmitscontent of a first recording medium that is digital copyrighted workincluding a plurality of content blocks, the apparatus comprising: atransmission unit configured to transmit the content to an externalapparatus, for each of the plurality of content blocks, and furthertransmit copy control information indicating copy permission of thecontent that corresponds to the content block that is being transmitted,content identification information identifying the content thatcorresponds to the content block that is being transmitted, and contentstatus information that is position information for the content blockthat is being transmitted, the content status information indicating aposition of the block in the content, wherein: the transmission unit isconfigured to: repeat transmitting the copy control information from astart of transmitting the content to an end of transmitting the content,repeat transmitting the content identification information from thestart of transmitting the content to the end of transmitting thecontent, transmit (i) at least twice, content status informationindicating that the content block that is being transmitted is locatedat a head part of the content, (ii) content status informationindicating that the content block that is being transmitted is locatedat a central part of the content, and (iii) at least twice, contentstatus information indicating that the content block that is beingtransmitted is located at an end part of the content, and include, whenthe content identification information is divided into first informationand second information different from each other, flag information intothe first information and transmit the second information after thefirst information, the flag information indicating that informationrelated to the content identification information follows.